2 Kings, 4

1. Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.

1. The widow of one of the fellow prophets called Elisha saying, "You know that my husband feared God. But now his creditor has come to collect payment. And as we could not pay, he wanted to take my two sons as slaves."

2. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.

2. Elisha said, "What can I do for you? Tell me what you have in your house?" She answered, "I have but a little oil for cleaning."

3. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, [even] empty vessels; borrow not a few.

3. Elisha said to her, "Go and ask your neighbors for empty jars.

4. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.

4. Get as many as you can; then go into your house with your sons and close the door. Pour oil into the vessels. And when they are filled, set them aside."

5. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought [the vessels] to her; and she poured out.

5. The woman went and locked herself in her house with her sons. They handed her the vessels and she filled them all.

6. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, [There is] not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.

6. She said to one of her sons, "Bring me another vessel," and he answered, "There are no more." Then the oil stopped flowing.

7. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.

7. As she went back to tell this to the man of God, he said to her, "Go and sell the oil to pay for your debts; you and your sons can live on the money that is left."

8. And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where [was] a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And [so] it was, [that] as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.

8. One day Elisha went to Shunem, and a rich woman invited him to eat. Afterwards, whenever he went to that town, he would go to her house to eat.

9. And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this [is] an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually.

9. The woman said to her husband, "See, this man who constantly passes by our house is a holy man of God.

10. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.

10. If you want, we can make a small upper room for him, and place a bed, a table, a chair and a lamp in it. So when he comes, he may stay and rest."

11. And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there.

11. One day when Elisha came, he went to the upper room and lay down.

12. And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him.

12. Then he said to Gehazi, his manservant, "Call this woman." She came when called and stood before Elisha.

13. And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what [is] to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people.

13. Elisha said to her, "You have taken all this trouble for us. Tell me: what then can we do for you? Would you like me to say something to the king or the commander of the army for you?" But she answered, "I do not need anything in this land."

14. And he said, What then [is] to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old.

14. So Elisha said to Gehazi, "What can we do for her?" The young man answered, "She has no children and her husband is now old."

15. And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door.

15. And so Elisha said to him, "Call her." The young man called her and as the woman stood by the door,

16. And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, [thou] man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid.

16. Elisha said, "By this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms." She answered, "No, my lord, O man of God, you are deceiving your maidservant."

17. And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.

17. But the woman gave birth to a son precisely at the time Elisha had told her.

18. And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.

18. The boy grew. One day, when he had gone out to his father among the harvesters, he had a severe headache.

19. And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother.

19. So the father ordered his servant, "Carry him to his mother."

20. And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and [then] died.

20. The servant brought him to his mother, and the boy sat on her lap till noon, when he died.

21. And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut [the door] upon him, and went out.

21. Then the mother went up and laid him on Elisha's bed and she left, closing the door.

22. And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.

22. Then she called her husband, "Send me one of the servants with an ass. I am going to the man of God, and I will come back."

23. And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? [it is] neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, [It shall be] well.

23. He asked, "Why are you going to him? It is not the new moon yet nor the sabbath." But she said, "Do not worry."

24. Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slack not [thy] riding for me, except I bid thee.

24. She saddled the ass, and said to her servant, "Lead on, and don't stop until I tell you."

25. So she went and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, [yonder is] that Shunammite:

25. So she set off and arrived at Mount Carmel where the man of God was. Elisha saw her from afar, so he said to his servant, "Here comes our Shunamite.

26. Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, [Is it] well with thee? [is it] well with thy husband? [is it] well with the child? And she answered, [It is] well.

26. Run to meet her and ask: Are you well? How is your husband? And your son?" She answered, "Everything is all right."

27. And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul [is] vexed within her: and the LORD hath hid [it] from me, and hath not told me.

27. She went to the man of God, and embraced his feet. Then Gehazi came to draw her away, but the man of God said to him, "Leave her, for her soul is in bitter distress, and Yahweh has not made known to me nor has he revealed it to me."

28. Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me?

28. She said, "Did I ask, my lord, for a son? Why have you deceived me?"

29. Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child.

29. Elisha said to Gehazi, "Get ready, take my staff and go. If you meet anyone, do not stop to greet him; and if someone greets you, do not greet him in return. And as soon as you arrive, place my staff on the boy's face."

30. And the mother of the child said, [As] the LORD liveth, and [as] thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her.

30. But the boy's mother said, "I swear by Yahweh and by your life that I will not leave you." So Elisha arose and followed her.

31. And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but [there was] neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked.

31. Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the boy's face, but the boy did not move or give any sign of life, so Gehazi returned to meet them and said, "The boy has not revived."

32. And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, [and] laid upon his bed.

32. Elisha came into the house, and found the dead boy lying on his bed.

33. He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD.

33. He entered, closed the door behind him, and prayed to Yahweh.

34. And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm.

34. Then he lay upon the boy, put his mouth upon the boy's mouth, his eyes upon his eyes, his hands upon the boy's hands, and warmth returned to the boy's body.

35. Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.

35. Elisha came down and began walking to and fro. Then he went upstairs to stretch himself upon the boy, and the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

36. And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son.

36. Elisha then called Gehazi and said, "Call the woman." And when she came, Elisha told her, "Take your son."

37. Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out.

37. She bowed at his feet, then she took her son and went out.

38. And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and [there was] a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets [were] sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.

38. Elisha returned to Gilgal. There was great scarcity of food in the region, and when the fellow prophets came to sit with Elisha, he said to his servant, "Take the big pot and prepare some broth for the fellow prophets."

39. And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred [them] into the pot of pottage: for they knew [them] not.

39. One of them went out into the field to gather herbs; he found a wild plant, from which he gathered poisonous fruits, enough to fill his cloak. When he came back, he cut them into pieces and put them in the pot where the broth was being prepared, for he did not know what they were.

40. So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O [thou] man of God, [there is] death in the pot. And they could not eat [thereof].

40. Then the broth was served to the men to eat. But as soon as they tasted the soup, they cried out, "Man of God, this is pure poison!" So they did not eat any more.

41. But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast [it] into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.

41. Then Elisha said, "Bring me flour." And he put it into the pot. Then he said, "Serve these men and let them eat." And there was no longer anything harmful in the pot.

42. And there came a man from Baalshalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat.

42. A man came from Baal-shalishad bringing bread and wheat to the man of God. These were from the first part of the harvest, twenty loaves of barley and wheat. Elisha told him, "Give the loaves to these men that they may eat."

43. And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave [thereof].

43. His servant said to him, "How am I to divide these loaves among one hundred men?" Elisha insisted, "Give them to the men that they may eat, for Yahweh says: They shall eat and have some left over."

44. So he set [it] before them, and they did eat, and left [thereof], according to the word of the LORD.

44. So the man set it before them; and they ate and had some left, as Yahweh had said.